"Have you learned before?"

The guy tilted his head to glance at his car's position, then turned back, "Practiced for two years."

Chen Mo followed his gaze and saw the car queued behind the fish truck — it was the guy's car, an Audi Q7. How come he's so wealthy and still carries a scale with him?

Shi Lei, a resident of Changtai City.

Today, he was supposed to drive his wife to Zhengzhou for a prenatal checkup. It's an interesting thing; although Changtai City isn't part of Yu Province, it's very close to Zhengzhou. So, locals generally don't like to spend money in their own provincial capital and head to Zhengzhou for anything.

Moreover, individual entrepreneurs like Shi Lei don't really care much about insurance or not; it's just a bit of money anyway.

Shi Lei didn't lie; he indeed trained for two years and even won a major chef competition prize. But he found being a chef too hard, so he switched to being a boss instead.

In Shi Lei's understanding, he is one of the rare "cooks who succeeded in the catering business."

Many peers think they can be head chefs in a restaurant and then expand by opening their own restaurant, only to end up losing so much they become unrecognizable.

Chen Mo didn't ask much, just agreed and continued cooking.

This left Shi Lei feeling a bit uncomfortable. He looked at Chen Mo expectantly.

Ask me!

Ask me!

If you continue to ask me, I'll tell you about the time I won the National Young Chef Championship!

But Chen Mo didn't intend to continue questioning, making Shi Lei feel that he had been holding back a big reveal, but the other didn't give him the chance to show off. It made him itch.

"This kid isn't playing by the rules. Shouldn't he have asked where I trained for those two years?"

"You won't ask, huh? Then I'll find a way to bring it up myself!"

Shi Lei kept a close eye on Chen Mo's every move, ready to point out any flaws in Chen Mo's skills.

By then, the other would surely argue with him, and he could pretend to be outargued. When Chen Mo was smug, he'd pull out the championship certificate from the trunk!

Hiss!

Just thinking about it made Shi Lei feel thrilled, as if he could already see the shock and panic in Chen Mo's eyes, maybe even kneeling to ask for some tips!

Shi Lei felt now was the opportunity.

"When cooking braised carp, you must fry it in oil. Why are you using three or four different oils? That's not right—isn't that ruining the fish?"

Chen Mo, not impatient, felt there was a long journey ahead. Chatting with people could broaden his knowledge.

"You might not understand this," Chen Mo said, "I bet you rarely cook at home."

Shi Lei: ???

I'm a national champion, and I don't understand?

Besides, how does he know I never cook at home?

Shi Lei met his wife after opening his restaurant. She never knew about his stint as a chef or his national championship win.

This is why Shi Lei kept his certificate under the spare tire in the trunk; if it was exposed, he'd have to cook at home every day!

Chen Mo added peanut oil to the pan, along with pre-fried scallion, ginger, and onion seed oil, and finally lard. Not only that, after adding the oil, he put ginger, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon in the pan.

Shi Lei shook his head repeatedly, "So, tell me how this relates to whether I cook at home or not?"

He felt Chen Mo's method was indeed a bit unorthodox. He'd never seen it before.

"See here." Chen Mo glanced at the pan's edge, unaffected in his chatting, "Household stoves are small with weak flames. After frying fish, the oil is flavored and can't be used for other dishes. Isn't that wasteful?"

"Moreover, from my twenty years of eating fish, which braised fish tastes the best?"

Shi Lei was taken aback by Chen Mo's question.

What kind of braised fish tastes the best? Does it need asking? Surely, it's the one that's crispy outside and tender inside, perfectly seasoned braised fish.

Chen Mo didn't seem to expect an answer, directly saying, "Of course, overnight braised fish tastes the best!"

During New Year's Eve dinners, there's usually so much food that it can't be finished at once. Leave it overnight and heat it the next day—it's wonderfully fragrant!

To Chen Mo, overnight braised fish is not part of the category of overnight garlic chives!

Shi Lei felt his culinary knowledge refreshed again. Isn't freshly made better than overnight?

The aromatic spices in the pan emitted rich aromas, causing many drivers in the lane to roll down their windows in curiosity. Chen Mo scooped out the golden-brown spices, leaving just a little oil in the pan.

After testing a few times, Chen Mo figured this guy might have learned a couple of tricks on Douyin, not knowing much, possibly worried that he'd mess up his fish.

He didn't bother discussing culinary skills with him, "Rest assured, I can't guarantee it's super delicious, but I can promise it won't taste bad!"

The cooking pot wasn't wide enough to deep fry an entire fish, and Chen Mo's cooking skills had long surpassed those of a greenhorn.

From learning to fry dumplings, he knew frying often preserved the original flavor of ingredients better, while deep-frying more easily triggered the Maillard reaction, depending on the ingredient.

Yellow River Carp, especially river-fresh, had a naturally delicious taste, so the real skill should be in the braising process. Initially, it should be prepared in a way that retains its inherent taste and texture—by frying.

Shi Lei found the situation amusing, thinking Chen Mo was finally taking the bait!

As long as the other person isn't convinced, he could show the certificate from under the spare tire to him, making him submit!

Of course, all this depended on his wife still playing on her phone in the car, uninterested in the conversation here.

So, Shi Lei pretended to be dissatisfied, "So according to your logic, even though I don't cook at home, what I just said was wrong?"

Chen Mo shook his head, "Not wrong, just not suitable for the current situation."

Shi Lei frowned slightly, thinking this kid wasn't following the script, "So what's the situation now?"

"Well, there's no time to marinate for flavors, so multiple oils and spices are used to pan-fry, achieving a complex aroma. Plus, the pot's too small to deep fry; frying is a better option."

Shi Lei showed a slightly smug smile, "But braised fish should be deep-fried. Little chef, do you think what I said is wrong?"

He was waiting for Chen Mo to say he was wrong.

As for Chen Mo.

He placed the two fish side by side in the pan, rocking it back and forth to let the hot oil slide over every inch of the fish. Hearing Shi Lei's words, Chen Mo felt that this guy was indeed faking it.

If he continued to argue, Shi Lei might pull out his phone and find a video from a social media influencer to educate him.

Thus.

Chen Mo laughed and nodded vigorously.

"Ah, right, right... you're right; I also think it should be deep-fried, no problem at all!"

Shi Lei swallowed his planned words, his fingers already on the key to open the trunk, only to hear this line.

Shi Lei only wanted to say three words at this moment.

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